101 Inspirational and Motivational Quotes for Work

Good motivational quotes for your employees should be inspiring and empowering…and should not sound like something you lifted from a cheesy greeting card.

Imagine:

It’s Monday morning and your team is gathering together for the beginning of the week meeting. Your team is fresh off the weekend and may not be in the most energetic of moods.

So you, as the leader of your team, need to present something during this meeting to pick them up. A good inspirational and uplifting quote for work or an inspirational video is a great way to get your team out of the Sunday Funday mentality and back into a goal crushing machine.

We searched through books, movies, songs, and even TED Talks to bring you 101 amazing motivational quotes for and about work you’ll be proud to put in a Powerpoint, or even an intra-office meme.

15. There will be little rubs and disappointments everywhere, and we are all apt to expect too much; but then, if one scheme of happiness fails, human nature turns to another; if the first calculation is wrong, we make a second better: we find comfort somewhere. —Jane Austen, Mansfield Park

18. Be men, or be more than men. Be steady to your purposes and firm as a rock. This ice is not made of such stuff as your hearts may be; it is mutable and cannot withstand you if you say that it shall not. —Mary Shelley, Frankenstein

19. Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else. —Judy Garland

20. The only way to achieve the impossible is to believe it is possible. —Charles Kingsleigh, Alice in Wonderland (2010)

21. Man is only truly great when he acts from the passions; never irresistible but when he appeals to the imagination. —Benjamin Disraeli, Coningsby

22. When we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better too. —Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist

23. Hey there, Mr. Grumpy Gills. When life gets you down do you wanna know what you’ve gotta do? Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming. What do we do? We swim, swim. —Dory, Finding Nemo

24. We must believe that we are gifted for something and that this thing must be attained. —Marie Curie

25. Intelligence without ambition is a bird without wings. —Salvador Dali

29. You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You’re on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the one who’ll decide where to go… —Dr. Suess, Oh the Places You’ll Go

30. Sometimes the fall kills you. And sometimes, when you fall, you fly. —Neil Gaiman, The Sandman

31. For artists, scientists, inventors, schoolchildren, and the rest of us, intrinsic motivation—the drive to do something because it is interesting, challenging, and absorbing—is essential for high levels of creativity. —Daniel H. Pink, Drive

32. In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock. — Thomas Jefferson

33. Do what you do so well that they will want to see it again and again and bring their friend. — Walt Disney

34. So many things are possible just as long as you don’t know they’re impossible. —Norton Juster, The Phantom Tollbooth

35. Everything should be made as simple as possible but not simpler. —Albert Einstein

36. Innovation distinguishes from a leader and a follower. —Steve Jobs

55. Ignorance and fear are but matters of the mind—and the mind is adaptable. —Daniel Kish

56. Those who don’t believe in magic will never find it. —Roald Dahl

57. Someone, at some point, came up with this very bad idea that an ordinary individual couldn’t make a difference in the world. I think that’s just a horrible thing. —John Skoll

58. Imitation is suicide. —Ralph Waldo Emerson

59. If you hire people just because they can do a job, they’ll work for your money. But if you hire people who believe what you believe, they’ll work for you with blood and sweat and tears. —Simon Sinek

60. Real courage is when you know you’re licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what. —Harper Lee

61. Genius is born—not paid. —Oscar Wilde

62. Very often, a change of self is needed more than a change of scene. —A.C. Benson

63. The Answer to the Great Question… Of Life, the Universe and Everything… Is… Forty-two. —Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker’s Guide

64. Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work. —Thomas Edison

65. I’ve learned about the poetry and the wisdom and the grace that can be found in the words of people all around us when we simply take the time to listen. —Dave Isay

66. It is by going down into the abyss that we recover the treasures of life. Where you stumble, there lies your treasure. —Joseph Campbell

67. Follow your passion, stay true to yourself, never follow someone else’s path unless you’re in the woods and you’re lost and you see a path then by all means you should follow that. —Ellen Degeneres

68. It’s easy to solve a problem that everyone sees, but it’s hard to solve a problem that almost no one sees. —Tony Fadell

78. The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, not to worry about the future, or not to anticipate troubles, but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly. —Buddha

79. Failure is the condiment that gives success its flavor. —Truman Capote

85. “I’m bored” is a useless thing to say. I mean, you live in a great, big, vast world that you’ve seen none percent of. Even the inside of your own mind is endless; it goes on forever, inwardly, do you understand? The fact that you’re alive is amazing, so you don’t get to say “I’m bored.” —Louis C.K

86. If we can challenge convention, we can solve any problem. —Josh Valman

87. Big jobs usually go to the men who prove their ability to outgrow small ones. —Ralph Waldo Emerson

88. In every job that must be done, there is an element of fun. You find the fun, and – SNAP – the job’s a game! —Mary Poppins

My favorite is #6, the past can hurt but you can run from it or learn from it. I think is important because so many of us get caught up in the thought that we have failed if we made a mistake. You can either dwell on it or ignore it, or you can take responsibility, move forward and figure out how to be successful.

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